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I had plans to go out for a glass of wine with a friend after the children were in bed. This is a rare occasion. And quite frankly I can't remember if it's ever happened before. I'm guessing it has but after 4 kids my memory is shot so in actuality it may be an isolated occasion. The only one of its kind so far...or at least in the last few years.

I knew I needed to fill my children's belly's before I left and especially my husbands, because let's face it, he'll have a much better attitude about me leaving him with four children if he is served a nice warm meal upon arriving home from work.

I enjoy cooking for my family but sometimes I just don't feel like cooking! Do you know that feeling? You may feel the same way sometimes so you throw a frozen meal in the oven and wallah! Dinner is served! And there is nothing wrong with that!

I personally did not grow up eating frozen meals and therefore rarely buy them and my freezer is definitely not stocked up with them. We cook the occasional frozen pizza or chicken nuggets here and there but that's really about it.

So this meal is not a frozen meal per say, although a lot of the food started our frozen! And this mean is really nothing exciting, just easy, healthy and filling! If you don't already have a similar meal stashed away in your recipe book or dinner menu then I hope you will try it.

Here's what you will need:

4 frozen chicken breasts without bone

1 cup of marinade (I used half a bottle of Kikkoman's Teriyaki sauce and 1/4 cup of Maple syrup, but you can use whatever you have! Salad dressings make great marinades as does a simple can of salsa!)

1 cup of water (to be mixed with marinade)

1 bag of steamable veggie's (my kids love edemame, probably because of the salt, but they also love getting the beans out...an excuse to play with their food, but they eat it!)

1 box of macaroni (we bought a huge case Annie's Homegrown at Coscto and we love the healthy choice)

Step 1:You'll need to thaw the chicken in the marinade.Around 2pm that afternoon I took out four frozen chicken breasts and put them in a zip lock bag. I filled the ziplock bag with 1/4th of the Maple Syrup jar and about half of the Teriyaki sauce bottle. I left the zip lock bag full of my marinade and chicken in cold water in the sink for about an hour then transferred to the fridge as it continued to thaw.

I didn't touch anything again until 5pm and 25 minutes later dinner was served.

Step 2:Preheat your oven to 400 (I used the conventional setting on my oven, but if you don't have a conventional setting, just go ahead and set it to 400 as well and you'll need to cook it longer).

Step 3:Arranged the chicken on the pan and set the timer for 10 minutes if using a conventional oven. Otherwise set for 15 minutes.

Step 4:Flip your chicken over.After 10 minutes I flipped chicken and cooked another 10 minutes for a total of 20 minutes in the oven. (if not using a conventional oven, cook another 15 minutes on the other side).

Step 5:While your chicken is in the oven cook your macaroni and Edemame per the package instructions.

Within 25 minutes my stove looked like this:

And just like that dinner was served.

Belly's were full. Children and husband were happy and this momma went out and enjoyed a glass of wine and good conversation with a friend.

Now it's your turn to do the same...

Please share with me what meals you have made that are similar to this one. If you have tried this please let me know what you think! Would love to hear your feedback!

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I am a mother of 4 small children. I am happiest when I am busiest and if the kids don't keep me busy enough I need projects to fill my days. I love Jesus and I love my family and I love the chaos around me for it brings the calm.